Google News Christian Horner: The race director needs more support
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Red Bull boss Christian Horner says FIA racing director Michael Masi needs more support in the future, and he hopes to get it this year. Massi found himself under fire from critics in the final race of the 2021 season, which decided to win the title between Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
The Briton was at hand to become the record holder in the history of Formula 1 in titles won. The incident, sparked by Williams ’Nicholas Latifi, turned things around in favor of the Dutchman. Verstappen took the opportunity after the safety car came out to go to the pits and change the tires.
Mercedes did not react to such a move because they thought the race would end behind the SC. However, Masi did not allow such an outcome of the situation because he wanted the race to end under normal circumstances. He pulls the SC off the track and leaves one lap until the end to resolve the issue of the winner.
Verstappen had a big advantage in that situation because Hamilton was on worn out hard tires on which he had stints over 40 laps. The Red Bull driver after the restart attacked the driver of the Mercedes, which he soon overtook, and that crossing marked the victory and winning the first championship of his career.
On the other hand, the director of the race is accused of not following the rules during the safety car, and of going in favor of the new world champion Max Verstappen. The FIA ​​has therefore launched an investigation into what happened during the safety car, which will involve all participants, and will reach a conclusion on March 18.
Horner on Masi
The head of Red Bull claims that Massi needs a better structure around himself in order to make decisions easier and faster. In addition, Horner believes that the rules should be simplified, as he reminds that Abu Dhabi was not the only controversial moment of the season.
“The new FIA president has focused on that and I think there’s a lot of intent to provide better support to the race director,” Horner says. "The tools we teams have at our disposal are far from what Michael and his team have, so there was a lot of focus on that over the winter." "You will see that this role is better supported, which will hopefully make decisions easier and faster, but I think we also need to look at the rules to simplify some of them as well," he added.
Despite the controversial situation in Abu Dhabi, which led to a polarizing debate among Formula 1 fans, and various opinions from people in the world of premier class, Horner insists that quarrels and disagreements have not harmed Red Bull's achievement.
"You (the media) were the only ones who spoke about the consequences of Abu Dhabi. We enjoyed winning that championship, and obviously now we have to focus on 2022 .. (because it is) 2021 history, but we are excited about the season ahead, ”concluded Horner.
